Superb violinist Jennifer Koh was forced to cancel that engagement, but now she is the featured artist for the CMF's opening night concert on Thursday at Chautauqua Auditorium. Of the concertos Koh offered, Zeitouni selected a contemporary work — the tour-de-force 2009 Violin Concerto by Finnish composer and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen — that fits well thematically with the first weekend, where percussion is at the center.

Zeitouni told the Camera that there were several factors behind choosing the Salonen concerto.

"I think that including a newer piece on opening night is a good way to highlight that aspect of our programming," he said.

Beyond that, with two subsequent weekend events featuring the ensemble So Percussion, the conductor saw an opportunity for connection in the Salonen concerto, which includes many percussion effects.

"Instead of planning events around opening night, the opportunity emerged to go in the other direction with what we had scheduled," Zeitouni said.

"I looked at Jennifer's offering and saw the Salonen, which I thought was a tremendous work, and the percussion component was very evident," he continued. "Two of the movements are called 'Pulse,' and the idea of rhythm is pronounced."

He mentioned a set of 14 gongs in dialog with the soloist.

Koh, who has performed with both the CMF and the Boulder Philharmonic in the last decade, told the Camera that the Salonen is "amazingly fun," mentioning the presence of a drum kit, against which the violin plays at one point.

The concerto was written as Salonen's tenure with the Los Angeles Philharmonic was about to end. The composer conducted the premiere with that ensemble and violinist Leila Josefowicz.

Violinist Jennifer Koh is the featured artist for Colorado Music Festival's opening night concert on Thursday at Chautauqua Auditorium in Boulder. (Courtesy Colorado Music Festival)

Koh said that Salonen, with whom she has worked professionally and maintains a friendly relationship, approached her about taking on the concerto shortly after it had been premiered.

"I heard the New York premiere, and was excited about learning it," she said. "It really falls beautifully in the hand of the violin. When a composer is also a performer, it can help the sense of timing and structure."

She said that Salonen also allowed a wide range of freedom for the performer. The piece is in four movements, but the first two are directly connected.

"It has been picked up a lot, and I think it will become even more popular," Koh said. "I really love the rhythmic pulse and drive that runs through the music. It is imaginatively orchestrated."

She called Zeitouni a "lovely human being and a beautiful musician," and said she looks forward to playing in Boulder again.

The new CMF presenting concert series kicks off on Friday. It aims to combine aspects of the previous chamber music series with high-caliber guest artists. Brooklyn-based quartet So Percussion will perform a diverse, contemporary program. The quartet also joins Zeitouni and the CMF orchestra for the annual Young People's Concert on Saturday morning, which, unusually, takes place after opening night.

So Percussion is the current ensemble-in-residence at Princeton University. Its newest member, Eric Cha-Beach, spoke to the Camera in a wide-ranging conversation about the group and the programs. The name comes from a Japanese root word implying an "offering of sound."

"The quartet has been around since 1999, and I've been with them since 2007," Cha-Beach said, noting that only one original member, Jason Treuting, remains. "They formed while studying contemporary classical chamber music for percussion at Yale. We current members also all went through that program."

In the 20th century, percussion instruments emerged from their position at the back of the orchestra and became a focus for avant-garde composers such as John Cage and Edgard Varèse, Cha-Beach said.

"These composers saw percussion as an ideal vessel for experimenting with new, unusual sounds. A byproduct of that was a connection with music from areas of the world that had been ignored by Western classical music, such as West Africa, East Asia and Latin American," he said.

These were unheard sound worlds in Europe and the United States.

"All unusual instruments are given to the percussion section, even if they are not banged, scraped, or shaken," Cha-Beach said, mentioning the slide whistle as an example.

The oldest work on Friday's program is Cage's "Third Construction," scored for a quartet playing several unorthodox percussion instruments. The group will also play the "Mallet Quartet" for marimbas and vibraphones, written for them by minimalist icon Steve Reich.

Newer works include "Babybot" by Princeton composer Andrea Mazzariello and "June" by So founding member Treuting, part of a larger project called "Amid the Noise." Cha-Beach said that composing together as a group is part of the aesthetic, so that will be on display. Finally, a wildly experimental piece written for them by Bryce Dessner, a noted guitarist and composer, features blocks of wood strung with sets of guitar strings.

"It's like a cross between a hammered dulcimer and electric guitar," Cha-Beach said.

On the much lighter Young People's Concert, another piece by Reich, "Clapping Music," is featured, along with another short piece by Treuting. The quartet joins the orchestra in the well-known "Machines and Dreams" by Colin Matthews, a work using toys (including toy pianos) and noisemakers as solo instruments.

Cha-Beach said that the ensemble's goal is to be unusual and edgy, but also to present contemporary classical music, often viewed as austere, stark and forbidding, in a way that is friendly and invites the audience.

"We aim to appeal to general audiences as well as connoisseurs," he said.

Patriotism and pops

With four unique concerts on consecutive days, the opening weekend is unusually busy. It closes with another family event, the "Patriotism and Pops" concert, on Sunday afternoon, July 3.

Long a staple of the CMF season, which always opens near the July 4 holiday, it was absent last year. This season, it returns in somewhat reduced guise as a program for the CMF brass section, led by longtime principal trumpeter Jeffrey Work. It includes traditional patriotic fare and other popular-style music for brass. Work, a CMF stalwart, is described by Zeitouni as a highly knowledgeable and sensitive musician.

Knights pick up first playoff win since '14BOULDER — This year's Fairview boys basketball team sure is full of surprises.
After losing five of their first eight games, the Knights rebounded to finish the regular season on a 13-2 run and found a way to win the Front Range League regular season championship. Full Story

The Boulder alt-country band gives its EPs names such as Death and Resurrection, and its songs bear the mark of hard truths and sin. But the punk energy behind the playing, and the sense that it's all in good fun, make it OK to dance to a song like "Death." Full Story